“Dorothy!” Adele cried, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and indignation. “What… what did you do to me?!”

A strange, heart-shaped mark had appeared on her lower abdomen, similar yet distinct from the one she had seen on Celeste.

And Adele could swear that she had never entered into any kind of master-familiar contract with Dorothy!

Examining the mark more closely, she realized that while it resembled a heart, it was far from perfect. Instead of smooth curves, it was jagged and thorny, a tangle of vine-like lines interwoven with a delicate five-petaled flower at its center. It looked… imprisoned, trapped within a cage of thorns.

Dorothy met Adele’s gaze with a cold smile, her silence speaking volumes. Her slender fingers traced the outline of the mark, sending a shiver down Adele’s spine. It tickled, a sensation that Adele desperately wanted to hide from Dorothy. Instead, she forced herself to remain still, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“What did I do to you?” Dorothy purred, her voice a seductive whisper. “Perhaps you should ask yourself what you’ve been doing behind my back. You little flirt. Maybe they’re right…”

“Maybe I should tie you up, lock you away,” she continued, her voice turning cold and sharp.

It was the calmness that terrified Adele the most.

There was nothing more frightening than a madman regaining his senses.

Or a normally meek person snapping.

They had “calm madman” covered. What about “meek person snapping”?

A chill ran down Adele’s spine. She glanced nervously at the door across from hers… Sharon’s room.

Silence. As if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

She didn’t dare to speak, her defiance reduced to a glare as Dorothy tilted her chin up with a delicate finger.

Then, the tears came, flowing freely down Adele’s cheeks. If Adele had pursued an acting career, she would have won every award imaginable.

It was her defense mechanism. She might have glared at Dorothy, but she was crying now. They were even.

*Please don’t hurt me anymore…*

Dorothy’s initial anger gave way to a pang of guilt. Adele’s tears were like tiny stones, each one hitting her heart with a dull thud.

She had thought herself invincible, her heart impenetrable.

Until Adele, fragile as a flower petal, drifted into the river of her heart, carried by the current, sinking deeper and deeper.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Dorothy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She couldn’t bring herself to blame Adele.

“You’re such a scaredy-cat…” she mumbled, her voice softening. “I thought all that reading would have at least taught you the name of this little charm.”

Her fingers danced along the edge of the heart-shaped mark, sending another shiver through Adele.

“It’s a chastity curse,” she explained. “It won’t affect you in any way… as long as you behave. But if you betray me, if you decide to be a bad girl…”

She pressed her fingertip against Adele’s soft stomach, eliciting a gasp. A faint red mark appeared on Adele’s skin.

“But I’m sure you wouldn’t do anything like that, would you, Adele?”

“…”

Adele didn’t answer. Her world had suddenly turned grey.

What was the point of living if she couldn’t flirt with pretty girls?

As its name suggested, the chastity curse was a magical spell that ensured a woman’s fidelity. It was usually inscribed on the lower abdomen, causing excruciating pain during intercourse with anyone other than the caster. In severe cases, it could even be fatal.

At this moment, as Dorothy’s hand rested on Adele’s stomach, the thorny vines of the curse seemed to retreat, like snakes slithering back into their den, revealing the delicate flower at its center. It was as if the curse itself was offering its heart to its master.

Even Adele’s mind felt the subtle influence of the magic. Suddenly, Dorothy seemed incredibly… appealing.

Her legs trembled, and a sweet, intoxicating scent wafted from her skin, a subtle hint of arousal.

Adele, mortified, tried to pull away. To her surprise, Dorothy released her wrists.

“Go on,” Dorothy said, her voice a husky whisper. “Run away.”

Adele didn’t hesitate. She fled upstairs, seeking refuge in her room.

She didn’t care what Dorothy did next. She could go wherever she pleased!

A strange sense of boldness had taken root in Adele’s heart, giving her the courage to defy Dorothy.

It wasn’t that Dorothy wasn’t terrifying. But her actions, her words, spoke of a deeper affection, a genuine concern for Adele’s well-being.

She had chosen to bind Adele with a chastity curse instead of claiming her outright, had even allowed her to pursue other relationships.

For Dorothy, who craved control above all else, this was an unprecedented compromise.

She was willing to change for Adele.

What more proof did she need?

Adele, however, was a master of pushing boundaries. The kinder Dorothy was, the more she dared to test her limits.

She hadn’t learned her lesson yet.

Dorothy’s anger flared as she watched Adele disappear down the hallway. “Stop right there!” she commanded, her voice sharp.

“Eep!”

Despite her brave facade, Adele froze, a pathetic squeak escaping her lips.

Dorothy, her footsteps heavy with anger, climbed the stairs and grabbed Adele by the waist, pinning her against a door.

“What… what are you doing?!” Adele whimpered, her face burning with shame.

But what mortified her the most was the fact that Dorothy had pinned her against… Sharon’s door!

*Oh god, she’s going to find out!*

Adele’s voice was barely a whisper, as if she were afraid of being overheard, afraid of Dorothy discovering Sharon’s presence.

But Dorothy already knew.

Only the oblivious Adele was unaware.

During their argument, a surge of uncontrolled psychic energy had emanated from the room across from Adele’s. And Dorothy recognized that energy signature all too well.

Sharon… it was her.

Hermione was one thing. But her own trusted follower, living with Adele behind her back… who knew what they were up to?

They were all defying her!

Dorothy had never been so insulted.

And so, she would punish Sharon. She would break her spirit.

Right here, right now, with the girl she loved, she would make Sharon listen to Adele’s sweet, helpless cries.

If it rekindled the spark of rebellion Dorothy had glimpsed in Sharon’s eyes all those years ago… well, Dorothy would welcome the challenge.

Perhaps Sharon’s betrayal was something she had secretly desired all along.

Dorothy licked her lips, her crimson eyes darkening.

Adele trembled in her grasp, a helpless lamb caught in the lioness’s gaze.